'386 MEETING OF THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION. 



evidences bearing upon the antiquity of man have been recently 

 produced in a collected and most logically-treated form by Sir 

 Charles Lyell. It seems no longer possible to doubt that the 

 human race has existed on the earth in a barbarian state for a 

 period far exceeding the limit of historical record ; but, not- 

 withstanding this great antiquity, the proofs still remain 

 unaltered that man is the latest as well as the noblest work 

 Of God. I will not run the risk of wearying this assembly by 

 extending my remarks to other branches of science. In conclusion 

 I will express a hope that when the time again comes round to 

 receive the British Association in this town its members will find 

 the interval to have been as fruitful as the corresponding period 

 on which we now look back. The tendency of progress is to 

 quicken progress, because every acquisition in science is so much 

 vantage ground for fresh attainment. We may expect, therefore, 

 to increase our speed <as we struggle forward ; but however high 

 we climb in the pursuit of knowledge we shall still see heights 

 above us, and the more we extend our view the more conscious we 

 shall be of the immensity which lies beyond." 



Chemical Science. 

 We give the President's address in full : — " Before the Section 

 enters upon the business for which it meets — that is to say, the 

 consideration of Papers and Reports upon Special Branches of 

 Chemistiy and the Chemical Arts — it may not be unacceptable to 

 cast a brief and cursory glance at some few topics illustrative of 

 the tendencies of chemical science during the last few years and of 

 its applications to some of the manufacturing arts. One of the 

 most remarkable features of the progress of our science is the rapid 

 rate at which materials have been accumulating by the labours of 

 chemists in the so-called organic department of the science. The 

 study of the transformation of organic bodies leads to the discovery 

 of new acids, new bases, new alcohols, new ethers, and at a con- 

 stantly increasing rate which is truly wonderful. Some of these 

 new substances are found to possess properties which can at once 

 be applied to practical manufacturing processes, such as dyeing,&c; 

 but the greater number of them remain in our laboratories, and 

 museums, and text-books, and serve to teach us new instances of the 

 combining forces of matter. The influence of this rapid growth 

 of materials upon our knowledge of principles and laws of combin- 

 •ation, which constitute the science of chemistry, has been simul- 



